Malaysiakini: "I don't know. You have to ask him." – Anthony Loke on Anwar’s numbers gameCOMMENT
| Anwar Ibrahim's meeting with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah
Sultan Ahmad Shah tomorrow could be the culmination of his ascendancy to
the highest office of the land - or it could be the final nail in the
coffin for a political operative who started a political upheaval which
broke the hegemonic control of Umno, but not "ketuanism".
Anwar
did not inherit a ready-made opposition. He had to cobble one together
to wage war against the Umno hegemon, which at one time included the
previous prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was briefly an
extremely influential operative in Pakatan Harapan and who still has his
slavish devotees.
The
fact is that Mahathir and his acolytes have abandoned Harapan and are
now hoping to either be kingmakers or spoilers. They are doing so for
the benefit of people who either want to sustain the hegemony they
enjoyed or who never want to see Anwar become prime minister.
The
fact that the old maverick considered and then reconsidered his
decision to run in the next general election demonstrates that whatever
moves Anwar is making has spooked the twice prime minister.
Umno sources told Nikkei Asia:
"Our president (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) is very cautious in making sure
that he can secure his political future, and Anwar can be a saviour."
This echoed the old maverick's concern that Anwar would coddle
"kleptocrats".
In an interview the old maverick did with the Malaysian Gazette,
not only did Mahathir revisit his old feud with Anwar Ibrahim. He
acknowledged that the current prime minister's position was precarious,
but while "Muhyiddin being toppled is one thing, the question of whether
Anwar has the support (of the MPs) is another".
Of course, all
this could be settled if the former prime minister just said that he
backed Anwar. After all, he had two tries at the stewardship of this
country, and he was on the team that toppled the government, which he
claims is destroying the country. But for some reason, the thought of
Anwar becoming prime minister is anathema to Mahathir.
Anwar's bid for power comes at a time when the pandemic is resurging, the "kakistocratic"
nature of the government of the day is on full display, and the various
segments of the rakyat are attempting to navigate the ever-changing
economic landscape brought about by this pandemic.
On the campaign
stump in the disastrous – considering this pandemic – Sabah election,
current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was reported in the press saying
this: "The Bersatu president added that should he no longer qualify to
be the prime minister, he has two options - to step down or recommend that the Agong dissolves Parliament.
"If the Agong dissolves Parliament, then Anwar (Ibrahim) will just be a PM-in-waiting."
Hence
what Malaysians have to look forward to if Anwar proves successful is,
if he (Muhyiddin) does not step down – and why should he, right? – that
the Agong dissolves Parliament just so that Anwar will remain a prime
minister in waiting and the rakyat will have to have another
Covid-spreading election because the stakes will be high.
Add to
this the political infighting that will take place, the economic
uncertainty, the total disregard of SOPs during campaign ceramah
sessions, the movement of politicians and their supporters across state
borders, the race and religion baiting, the money politics which would
further destabilise public institutions, the rumours online that could
spark civil unrest and the host of pandemic-spreading activities or
irresponsible actions which could irreparably damage the Malaysian body
politic.
DAP's
Seremban MP Anthony Loke's rather nonchalant answer to questions
surrounding the big pow-wow Harapan had is either an indication of the
lack of credibility of Anwar's claims, and DAP attempting to damage
control if this blows up in Anwar's face, or the thought of aligning
with Umno frogs is not something that the party can justify and believe
me, the DAP can justify a lot.
Meanwhile, Anwar has been
justifiably cagey about the numbers, but the problem here is that Anwar,
for whatever reason, has never been able to control the coalitions he
has been in. Sure, his allies fell under the spell of the old maverick,
but Azmin's Ali betrayal is on him.
If Anwar could not even exert
control over his own party, how in God's name is he going to control a
coalition made up of political operatives, most likely from Umno, who
have no loyalty beyond serving the unstable Malay political
establishment?
Consider this. A source told Malaysiakini on Oct 5 that Anwar has the numbers,
but more importantly, the source "who spoke on condition of anonymity
said not all PKR leaders are in the know of the latest developments
regarding this issue".
Okay, there are some trust issues in PKR,
and really, who can blame Anwar for not trusting his political party
with the intricacies of the coup? DAP, Amanah, and some PKR leaders are
not in the know when it comes to Harapan forming the next government.
Does this really matter to the base? Should it matter?
On Oct 8, a PKR source told Malaysiakini that Anwar "has maintained 'strong and convincing support'
from Umno MPs ahead of his audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan
Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah next Tuesday", which, if true, means that
Harapan would be aligning with Umno MPs to topple the Perikatan Nasional
(PN) government.
It also means that we would have a motley gang
of political operatives who do not trust each other attempting to manage
the economy and the pandemic, all the while attempting to position
themselves in an unstable hierarchy with vested interest using proxies.
Of
course, if Anwar comes out of the meeting with egg on his face, not
only will he have destroyed his credibility once and for all, he would
have destroyed whatever credibility remains in Harapan. This is the
strangest countercoup Malaysians have witnessed.
For the
Harapan supporter base, the two opposing ideas are: is it better for
Anwar to be PM by any means necessary (political coup), or is it better
for PN to be defeated at the ballot box (general election)?